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Punishments expected soon in Atlanta cheating case

ATLANTA — Several Atlanta educators implicated in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal will soon find out whether the state will yank their teaching certificates.

The state Professional Standards Commission on Thursday is expected to hand down the first formal punishments in the case, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported (http://bit.ly/nffYhq).

The commission, which certifies and polices educators in Georgia, will decide the fate of about a dozen APS educators Thursday. It’s expected to hear cases through January.

The commission can issue a range of punishments, from a warning to a certificate revocation. That punishment is separate from APS’s efforts to fire the teachers or possible criminal charges.

Commission officials told the newspaper that administrators would be subject to the stiffest punishment.

“Those in leadership have the ability to influence the behavior of many others,” said Kelly Henson, executive secretary of the commission. “We felt it should be a more severe sanction.”

Each case will be considered individually, but the commission has established some punishment guidelines: two years suspension for teachers and certificate revocation for administrators.

About 180 Atlanta Public Schools employees were implicated in the scandal after a state investigation revealed cheating in nearly half of the district’s 100 schools.

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